Winding apparatus.



110.795,982. y y PATENTED AU,1,-1905. I

c. W. HUBBARD.

WINDING AI'PARAVHIS.v APPLICATION FILED 1111130.11104.

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I CHARLES W. HUBBARD, OF BOSTON, MSSAOHUSETTS.

wlNbiNe. APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 30,1904. Serial No. 191,277.

.To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, CHARLES W. I-IUBBARD, a citizen of the United States,residing in Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented an Improvement in Winding Apparatus, ofl which thefollowing description', in connection with the accompanying drawings, isa specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My presentinvention is an improvement on the general form of apparatusshown and described in my application, Serial No. 163,483, filed June29, 1903, the improvements relating more particularly to means forsimplifying the apparatus so as vto wind or lay the thread or yarn withan even tension and also facilitate the convenience and speed ofoperation.

In building the thread mass by laying successive loops in the general'arrangement as set forth more in detail in my aforesaid application itis obvious that if the thread-is delivered with constant speed to auniformlymoving thread mass or winding apparatus the thread will beunder greater tension when beinglaid adjacent the periphery of thethread mass than when beinglaid adjacent the center, as greater traveltakes place at the periphery than at the center, and hence if noprovision is made for either changing the relative speed of movement orthe speed of delivery as the Winding approaches or recedes from thecenter of the thread mass there will be undue tension on the thread atthe periphery and undue slackness at the center, thereby producingdefective results, especially in the twisting, and accordingly,v I havedevised means for avoiding the above objections and securing uniformtension at all times, and in connection therewith 1 provide means foravoiding' the necessity of weighting the thread mass in order to secureproperly compact and regular winding, and also means permitting thequick threading and starting of a new thread in the apparatus upon thebreaking or completion of winding of the previous thread. These andfurther features of the invention and various advantages thereof will bepointed out in the course of the following description, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, in which I have shown apreferredembodiment thereof, the invention being further defined in the appendedclaims, also forming a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a central vertical sectional view of a suflicient portion ofthe apparatus to make the invention clearly understood. lFig. 2 isA atop plan view thereof, the thread-guide be-v ing in its outwardposition.y Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the thread laying or windingmembers removed'from the rest of the apparatus.

For enabling my invention to be fully under-` stood .I have shown thesame as adaptedl both to wind and spin and for this purpose have shownmeans for producing the three relative movements necessary foraccomplishing both of these resultse-viz., means for rotating' thethread mass, means for rotating the winding member with relationthereto, and means for moving a path-controller with relation to saidwinding member, and it will be understood that the relative movements ofthese parts may be varied according to the 4degree of twist or thecompactnessof the thread massA disk a3, having a radial-slot at, inwhich trav-` els a th read-guide a5, said thread-guide having lateralrlbs whlch are received 1n grooves in the walls of the slot at. Beneaththis plate or winding member is a path-controller or cam-plate a, havinga heart-shaped cam for laying 'the thread inthe proper form of loops forcompact winding, said winding means a3 a6 being held in proper positionfor relatively rotating on the ledge a7, projecting from the lower inneredge of the rotator-ange a2. These several parts are respectivelyrotated by hollow shafts as a9 al", journaled in the frame,

the shaft al being rotated by a gear al, whichhas mounted thereon, so asto turn about its own axis. a pinion am. This pinion is mount-` edeccentrically to the axis of the gear al, as plainly seen in Fig. 1, andis capable of rotation about its own axis independently of the rotationof the gear am.

meshes with two gears al* and c on the shafts a9 and a8, respectively,said gears a and L15 having a different number of teeth.

The shaft as has fast thereto and is driven Patented Aug. 1, 1905.

While the general results may- Said gear 6213.

by a gear (i12. The gears am and al may be of the same or of differentsizes and may be rotated at different relative speeds by any suitablemeans, as, for example, by means of gears e als, fast on shafts al @20,respectively, which shafts .are driven by any suitable drivingmechanism. (Not shown.) The shaft t8 carries at its upper end a rotatoror iier a. The shaft a carries at its upper end an arm a2?, engaging thepath-controller a at @22, and the shaft am engages the winding member a3at @23. The gears am and el are preferably rotated in the samedirection, but at different speeds, and in such case the winding membera and the flier or rotator e will rotate in the same direction, but atdifferent speeds.

Since the gear el, which carries the pinion C013, is rotating at adifferent speed from the gear am and since the gear am rotates with thegear am, it will follow that the gear am will be turned about its axisduring its movement around the axis of the gear al, and as the gears tuand am have a different number of teeth the shaft a" will graduallyeither fall behind or advance ahead of the shaft a, such ,movement beingjust sufficient to give the necessary1 increment or decrement to thesuccessive loops of threads.

The means for providing uniform tension of thread-delivery, alreadyalluded to, may be provided in various ways; but 'for compactness andsimplicity of arrangement, as Well as to permit the thread-delivery totake place at the bottom of the thread mass, I have arranged an arm a2",projecting from a hub 025, mounted to slide longitudinally on the shaftam and caused to rise and fall in unison with the movement of thepath-controller t6 by means of a cam a2, fast on the upper end of thepath-controller shaft a.

' Since the shafts a and am have a different speed relative to eachother, it will be obvious that the hub L25 will be gradually raised bythe cam a2 until the limit of its upward movement is reached, and thensaid hub will descend by its own weight, thus giving` an up-and-downmovement to the arm @24. This up-and-down movement corresponds exactlywith the inand-out movement of the thread-guide, and thus the thread ismaintained under an even tension.

The thread t passes up through the hollow shaft am and out through anopening t2? there-` in, thence underthe free end of the arm am, asindicated at @28, to the thread-guide ab, by which it is laid on theunder side of the thread mass/the latter being caused thereby togradually rise as the thread mass builds up.

In order to cause the thread mass to turn with the rotator, suitablefriction devices are provided, being .herein shown as curved finsoi"inwardly-projecting wings e2, secured to the inner wall of thehousing e2. A shoulder as is provided for receiving an `inclosing canam, if desired, for directing and receiving the upwardly-moving threadmass.

By having the thread delivered at the under side of the. thread mass andproviding the frictional devices and the various constructional detailsexplained I am enabled to wind a compact cylindrical thread mass withoutsuperimposed weights or other retaining and compressingdevices. Forfurther facilitating this object, as well as securing other advantages,I have provided the following means for yieldingly retaining thethread-guide ai in position. As herein illustrated,said threadguide hasa stud or depending lip uf, which is adapted to engage the edge oftheheart-shaped opening ai of the path-controller a, and said stud ismaintained in engagement with the edge 0f said heart-shaped opening by aspring ai, which occupies a groove am" in the winding member a3 andabuts at one end against one end of said groove and at the other endengages the threadeguide ai. For retaining the spring in position Iprovide a tube r/ff, which is secured to the thread-guide and receivesone end of said spring` as best shown in Fig. l. By reason of thisconstruction a new thread or broken thread may instantly be started onthe under side of the thread mass, all that the operator is required todo being simply to shove the thread-guide bach to the center and theninsert the thread end upwardly through 4the thread-opening in said guideand then let go of the thread-guide, whereupon the upwardly-projectingend of the thread will be instantly caught and held frictionally betweenthe bottom of the thread mass and the top of the winding member a3.

Besides permitting the threading of the machine at the bottom of thethread mass the spring arrangement above explained permits` a simplecam-plate or path-controller ft, and also avoids the friction andpossible catching, &e., of the thread-guide as constructed in mybefore-mentioned copending applications. ln order to further facilitatethe threadingol' the apparatus, the hollow shaft am is provided with adirecting-surface uf" at its upper end for directing the thread endoutwardly through the opening a, said surface being herein shown asprovided at the lower end of a plugl ai, closing the upper end of theshaft.

In practice the thread mass is permitted to build up to a considerablelength and is then separated into such sizes of thread mass as desiredsimply by inserting a suitable flat knife, so as to pry otll or severthe upper portion of the thread mass from the lower portion, and thewinding then continues, constantly pushing up the superimposed portionof the thread mass. The resistance of the curved wings ft2 takes theplace of a weight and effects a firm compact winding, while at the sametime it compels the thread mass to rotate properly.

rThe speed of winding depends upon the relative rotation between thewinding menn-I ber or plate a3 and the thread mass, and the amount oftwist depends upon the number of revolutions of the winding memberduring the winding of a given length of thread, -so that in order toincrease the amount of twist it is necessary to bring the speedsofrotation of the winding member and the thread mass more nearly inunison, there being nothing but twist and no winding when both rotatetogether and the least twist when the winding member approaches astationary conthe successive'loops, the tension-evener rises andfalls,permitting the thread to be delivered faster to the thread mass asthe thread-guide moves outward and slower as the thread-guide movesinward, it Abeing understood that the thread is required tov pass withuniform speed along the hollow shaft am, (or such other means as may-beprovided for conveying or delivering the thread,) the movement betweenthat point' and the th read mass varying as the speed of the threadconsumption varies, so that the thread will vescape from saidv hollowshaft with the same speed irrespective -of whether it is being laidnearthe center or near the circumference of the thread, and in order tohave the winding means and thread mass rotate constantly with the samerelative speed I have interposed the slacliening and tightening devicewhich takes up the thread as it is being deposited toward the center andgives out or releases the thread as the latter is being deposited towardthe circumference.

If the thread breaks, the operator simply takes hold of the under sideof the threadguide and pushes the same inwardly to the center beneaththe hollow center of the thread mass, being14 thereby enabled to insertthe thread quickly up through the hole in the thread-guide, and uponreleasing the latter the projecting upper end of the thread isimmediately caught and held between the thread mass and plate or windingmember a3. while the winding continues.

If the thread escapes from thedeliveryshaft ci", it is readily insertedbecause of the directing shoulder orsurface a3?.

By reason of the epicyclic gearing. and vari- `able driving thereofv allthe desired changes.

in relative motions above mentioned may be readily secured. i

.I am aware that the main features of my invention are capableof'various embodiments, l

all within the spirit and scope of my invention, and accordingly it willbe observed that l certain of my claims are broad, while others of theclaims are intended to cover the more specific details of the preferredembodiment of my-invention, which have herein shownand set forth indetail.

Certain of the features herein shown but not claimed are duly claimed inmy aforesaid copending application.

Having described my invention, what .I claim as "new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, isf v 1. In a machine of the kind described, a

winding member for-winding a thread mass in `layers extendingtransversely of lthe axis of said thread mass, means for Vrotating saidthread mass and said winding member at an unvarying difference in speed,and means for maintaining the same tension of thread delivery at allpoints inthe laying ofthe thread.

2. In a machine of the kind described, winding mechanism including meansfor delivering a continuous thread for building up a thread mass, meanslfor traversing said delivery means transversely of the axis of thethread mass, means for rotating the thready mass at a constant speed,and means for niain- 'taining said thread under an even tension as it isdelivered to said thread mass.

3. In a machine of the kind described, winding mechanism for winding athread mass in layers extending transversely of the axisl of the threadmass, including means for depositing the thread in loops, and means forvarying the feed of said thread for different portions of the loops formaintaining a uniform tension.

4. In-a machine of the kind described, a.-

winding member for winding a th read mass in layers extendingtransversely of the axis of the thread mass, mechanism for rotating saidthread mass and said winding member, including means for maintaining thespeed of said winding memberrelative to the speed of said thread massvat a constant ratio irrespective of the variations in speedthereof, andmeans for 'maintainingvthe thread delivery at ay uniform tension. i y

5. In a machine of the kind described, means for delivering the threadto be wound, a winding member for winding the thread in layers.composedof loopsextending toward the cen-A ter, mechanism for rotatingsaid winding memn ber and said thread mass with a constant difference ofspeed, and means cooperating with said winding member for bringingaconstant and uniform kpull on Said thread.

6. In a machine of thekind described, means for'delivering thread to bewound, a winding memberfor winding the thread inlayers com-'1 posed of.loops extending toward the center,

and 'means cooperating with said winding i member for bringing aconstant and uniform g 'massa pull on said thread, said means consistingof a tension-evener movable toward and from said winding member.

7. In a machine of the kind described, means for winding threadin'layers extending across the end of the thread mass, andtension-evening means for delivering` the thread with a uniform tensionirrespective of the speed of winding movement thereof.

8. In a machine of the kind described, a winding member, for windingthread on the bottom end of a thread-mass, means for relatively rotatingsaid thread mass and winding member, a thread-guide, means fortraversing said thread-guide across the end of said thread mass,andmeans for maintaining the thread delivery at a uniform tension.

9. In a machine of the kind described, a winding member, for windingthread on the bottom end of a thread mass, means for relatively rotatingsaid thread mass and winding member, a thread-guide, means fortraversing A said thread-guide across the end of said thread mass, ahollow shaft through which the thread is delivered, and means forvarying the speed of delivery from sai'd shaft to said thread mass.

10. In a machine of the kind described, a

Winding member for laying thread in loops across one end of a threadmass, mechanism for relatively rotating said thread mass and windingmember, including' a hollow shaft through which the thread is deliveredto said winding member; a tension-arm engagingsaid thread, and means formoving said arm for varying the speed of thread delivery to said threadmass and securing a uniform tension.

11. In a machine of the kind described, means for supporting a threadmass, a threadguide, and means for traversing the same across one end ofthe thread mass, actuating mechanism for relatively rotating'said threadmass and thread-guide, including a hollow shaft through which the threadis delivered to said thread-guide, a tension-arm engaging said thread,and means for moving said arm to retard the delivery of thread as thethread-guide is moving toward the center and to permit a freer threaddelivery as the thread-guide is moving away from the center.

v12. In a machine of the kind described, supporting means for engagingand rotating a thread mass, a winding member beneath the thread mass forlaying the thread across the lower end thereof, and a hollow shaft fordelivering thread to said winding member.

13. In a machine of the kind described, supporting means for engagingand rotating the thread mass, a winding member for laying the threadacross the lower end of said thread mass, a hollow shaft provided With alateral -opening for delivering thread to said winding member, and adeflecting shoulder or surface in said shaft for deiecting the threadthrough said opening.

14. In a machine of the kind described, supporting means for a threadmass, means for laying the thread in layers extending transversely ofthe bottom end of said thread mass, operating mechanism therefor, andmeans for feeding the thread from below.

15. Ina machine of the kind described, supporting means for a threadmass, means for laying the thread in layers cxtemling transversely ofthe bottom end of said thread mass, operating mechanism therefor, andmeans for feeding the thread from below, including a hollow shaftextending concentrically of said operating mechanism.

16. In a machine ofthe kind described, supporting means for a threadmass, means incl uding a transversely-moving thread-guide for laying thethread in layers extending transversel y of the bottom end of saidthread mass, operating mechanism therefor, and means for feeding thethread from below, said threadguide being movable out of windingposition for being threaded whenever required.

17. In a machine of the kind described, .u thread-guide for layingthread in loops extending transversely of one end of a thread mass, apath-controller for determinilig the traverse of said thread-guide,yielding means for normally holding said thread-guide under the controlof said path-controller, said th readguide being movable at will out olwinding position permitting the same to be threaded.

18. In a machine of the kind described, a winding member for engaging'the lower end of a thread mass, including a tluead-guide, means fortraversing said thread-guide across the end of said thread mass,actuating mechanism for relatively rotating said winding member and saidtraversing means, said mechanism comprising concentrically arrangedshafts and gearing extending below the bcfore-mentioned parts.

19. ln a machine of the kind described, a winding member for engaging'the lower end of a thread mass, including a threzul-guide l'or layingthe thread across said lower end, and friction means for retardin g theupward movement of said thread mass, and cause compact winding.

20. In a machine ol the kind described, a winding member for engagingthe lower end of a thread mass, including a thread-guide for laying thethread across said lower end, and friction means having aninwardly-curved surface for crowding against the thread mass andretarding the upward movement thereof.

21. In a machine of the kind described, a rotator for supporting androtating a thread mass, and means for laying the thread intransverseloops across the lower end of said thread mass, said rotatorbeing provided with friction-surfaces for engaging the thread mass whilepermitting thc latter yieldiugly to rise as the thread mass builds up.

22. In a machine of the kind described, means for laying the threadacross the bottom end of a thread mass, and means for holding the threadmass yieldingly down upon said means.

23. In a machine ofthe kind described, a rotator, a winding member, apath-controller, and means Jfor operating the same, including concentricshafts for each of the laforesaid parts, and gearing connected With saidseveral shafts for rotating the same at different relative speeds.

24. In a machine of the kind described, meansfor laying the thread intransverse layers across one end of the thread mass, in-

cluding relatively rotating members adjacent the periphery 'of thethread mass, and means for preventing the thread from getting caught ordragged between said relatively rotating members.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES W. HUBBARD.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. MAXWELL, J. ETHEL TARR.

